Engine Shook and Check engine light and Red Triangle

One thing you have got to be aware of with the Prius is that many mechanics do not fully understand how it works. I'm not going to suggest your mechanic did the following but it has happened to many a Prius in the past;

Imagine a situation where a Prius is driven onto the mechanics ramp, the engine is off as the car is upto temperature having recently been driven. A mechanic inexperienced with a Prius assumes (wrongly) that the car is now switched off as it isn't making a sound, so he empties the oil from the car. The car now senses that the engine temperature has dropped so fires up the engine which by now has no oil in it.

BANG, CLATTER, BANG

A few choice words are spoken, oil is filled into the engine in the hope that it isn't damaged and that the customer won't notice. The car might run for a few miles before it heats up enough to seize up.

This is the one reason why my Prius taxi goes to the main Toyota agent for service.

 

The a/c can make a loud humming noise when first turned on - esp in hot weather.

This is normal and due mainly to the a/c compressor turning onto full. In a non hybrid car the engine noise would usually drown out the a/c noise.

 

Don't fool with them. Tow it to a Toyota dealer. A dealer has a better chance of knowing what they are doing on a Prius. After a dealer diagnoses it you can fight with Firestone if they did something wrong.

 

... and for the very same reason my '05 prius also goes to Toyota agent for service. Thanking to previous owner he kept all services at Toyota agent.

Result: When I asked Toyota: Am I still covered under the 8 years hybrid warranty.
- Toyota's response: Yes.

Agape.

 

1. What does the fuel gauge read? Is it possible that you are out of gas or near that position?

2. If your fuel level is OK then I suggest you visit your Toyota dealer so that the DTC can be read. This may have nothing to do with the work that Firestone did for you.

3. The inverter coolant pump is the subject of the recent LSC, and that would not cause the symptoms that you posted. If the inverter overheated then you would see the various skid control ECU warning lights appear (like ((!)), ABS, VSC) and the AC compressor would stop working.

 

Interesting, no one has suggested the two most obvious possibilities: oil being too full, and the lid to the air box not being seated correctly, which has led to a contaminated MAF sensor.

 

Sits on top of the engine, where the air filter goes. Also called air cleaner. Sorry if that wasn't clear. Anyway, if your MAF sensor is contaminated, that might cause some of your issues. Also, you said your oil was "full", but was it over the top dimple, or even with it?

 

5 qts? That's way too much, most likely what has caused the problem. Take it back and have some drained off. You may need to have the throttle body cleaned too.

 

The engine oil level should be checked after the car is IG-OFF for five minutes or more, and is resting on a level surface.

What does "slightly" mean: 1/8" or less? If so, then this would not cause the engine driveability problems listed in the OP.

Also, this observation is not consistent with the invoice showing 5 quarts of oil being used, but it would not be surprising if the invoice did not reflect the actual oil used.

In any event, it would not hurt for the excess oil to be drained from the crankcase but I doubt that is the cause of the problems.

 

If you really wish to clear the check engine light, you need to disconnect the 12V battery for ~5 minutes, which will clear the engine ECU DTC codes (unless the underlying cause still exists.)

However you would do well to leave the check engine light on and the DTC alone, so that the dealer tech can retrieve the DTC and provide a diagnosis to you.